Witness doesn’t show in Tipler trial

Harvey Tipler at his trial at the Okaloosa County Courthouse Annex Extension.

Daily News file photo

By TOM McLAUGHLIN / Daily News

Published: Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 05:55 PM.

Timothy Albaugh, where are you?

A rare weekend day in court, convened to finish the solicitation for murder trial of former attorney James Harvey Tipler, came to a screeching halt Saturday when Albaugh, a key defense witness, didn’t show up to testify.

Albaugh’s testimony meant so much to Tipler’s case that Tipler himself wouldn’t take the stand without it, defense attorney Clyde Taylor said in asking for the ultimately granted continuance.

“He would be inclined to testify but declines to do so until after he too hears from Mr. Albaugh,” Taylor told County Judge T. Patterson Maney, who has presided over the now weeklong trial.

Albaugh had been at the courthouse earlier in the week in anticipation of testifying but was nowhere to be found Saturday. Deputies sent to his home in Laurel Hill made contact with his mother, who said she didn’t know where he was.

Tipler, who was ordered to await trial behind bars after being arrested for the third time on racketeering charges, is accused of attempting to solicit the aid of three cellmates in a plot to kill Assistant State Attorney Russ Edgar.

Edgar was the attorney who headed the investigation that led to Tipler’s arrests and was scheduled to prosecute his case until the murder for hire was discovered.

Albaugh, one of only three defense witnesses who will testify — provided he can be located and Tipler actually does take the stand — was scheduled to testify that Tipler gave him a check for $400 on the day before he was released from the Okaloosa County Jail.

The importance of this testimony was explained to the court outside the presence of the jury.

According to prosecution witnesses, Tipler blamed delays in getting his plot to kill Edgar off the ground on his inability to access the funds needed to pay to get the job done.

Taylor said Albaugh’s testimony could show jurors that Tipler had money available, a revelation the defense hopes will blow a big hole in the prosecution’s case.

Prosecutor Bobby Elmore disputed the importance of Albaugh’s testimony and offered to have his own investigator, Randy Crowder, confirm what he could of the information Taylor wanted the jury to hear.

Crowder had interviewed Albaugh before the trial.

Taylor countered Elmore’s request with a call for a mistrial. He withdrew the motion only after Elmore conceded, given the time of day (about 2:30 p.m.), that the trial wasn’t going to be completed Saturday anyway.

When all eight jurors hearing the case informed the judge they could return Monday, Maney continued the trial until 9 a.m. that day.

If convicted on three counts of solicitation to commit murder, Tipler, 61, faces a maximum 45-year prison sentence.

A rare weekend day in court, convened to finish the solicitation for murder trial of former attorney James Harvey Tipler, came to a screeching halt Saturday when Albaugh, a key defense witness, didn’t show up to testify.

Albaugh’s testimony meant so much to Tipler’s case that Tipler himself wouldn’t take the stand without it, defense attorney Clyde Taylor said in asking for the ultimately granted continuance.

“He would be inclined to testify but declines to do so until after he too hears from Mr. Albaugh,” Taylor told County Judge T. Patterson Maney, who has presided over the now weeklong trial.

Albaugh had been at the courthouse earlier in the week in anticipation of testifying but was nowhere to be found Saturday. Deputies sent to his home in Laurel Hill made contact with his mother, who said she didn’t know where he was.

Tipler, who was ordered to await trial behind bars after being arrested for the third time on racketeering charges, is accused of attempting to solicit the aid of three cellmates in a plot to kill Assistant State Attorney Russ Edgar.

Edgar was the attorney who headed the investigation that led to Tipler’s arrests and was scheduled to prosecute his case until the murder for hire was discovered.

Albaugh, one of only three defense witnesses who will testify — provided he can be located and Tipler actually does take the stand — was scheduled to testify that Tipler gave him a check for $400 on the day before he was released from the Okaloosa County Jail.

The importance of this testimony was explained to the court outside the presence of the jury.

According to prosecution witnesses, Tipler blamed delays in getting his plot to kill Edgar off the ground on his inability to access the funds needed to pay to get the job done.

Taylor said Albaugh’s testimony could show jurors that Tipler had money available, a revelation the defense hopes will blow a big hole in the prosecution’s case.

Prosecutor Bobby Elmore disputed the importance of Albaugh’s testimony and offered to have his own investigator, Randy Crowder, confirm what he could of the information Taylor wanted the jury to hear.

Crowder had interviewed Albaugh before the trial.

Taylor countered Elmore’s request with a call for a mistrial. He withdrew the motion only after Elmore conceded, given the time of day (about 2:30 p.m.), that the trial wasn’t going to be completed Saturday anyway.

When all eight jurors hearing the case informed the judge they could return Monday, Maney continued the trial until 9 a.m. that day.

If convicted on three counts of solicitation to commit murder, Tipler, 61, faces a maximum 45-year prison sentence.